Box Score Kenosha, Wis. - The University of La Crosse men's basketball team fell 70-68 to Aurora University (Ill.) Friday night in the Carthage College (Wis.) Classic in Tarble Arena. The Eagles drop to 1-1 on the season while the Spartans improve to 2-0. UW-L will face host Carthage (Wis.) in the consolation game Saturday, November 22 at 4 p.m. Carthage (Wis.) fell 70-57 to the University of St. Francis (Ill.) Friday night.
The game was tied 8-8 Friday night when Aurora (Ill.) scored seven straight points to lead 15-8 with 11:46 remaining in the first half. UW-L trailed 20-11 when it went on a 14-6 run to cut its deficit to 26-25 with 2:44 left on a
Skylar Cameron three-point field goal. The Spartans led 32-27 at halftime.
Aurora (Ill.) led by as many as 15 points in the second half at 58-43 with 10:21 remaining after a pair of Tyler Hall free throws. UW-L quickly cut the lead to 58-50 before the Spartans later led 65-54 with 4:22 left.
Cameron then scored eight straight points, including a pair of three-point field goals, to cut the Eagles' deficit to 65-62 with 1:04 remaining. Brandon Smith's three-point play with :54 left gave Aurora (Ill.) a 68-62 lead, but
Kenny Finco cut the lead to 68-64 on a layup with :50 remaining. Cameron hit one-of-two free throws with :35 left to make it 68-65 and
Ryan Kruser tied the game at 68-68 on a three-pointer with :21 left. After an Aurora (Ill.) timeout, Gavin Walker missed a layup, but Kyle Pilmer grabbed the rebound and put the layup in with :01 remaining for the winning basket.
UW-L shot 37.1% from the field, including 29.6% (eight-of-27) from three-point range. The Eagles shot 66.7% (14-of-21) at the free throw line.
Cameron led UW-L with a career-high 23 points, finishing five-of-12 from three-point range and eight-of-12 at the line. He scored 14 points in the second half.
Cale Zuiker finished with 19 points and nine rebounds while Finco had 11 points and Kruser nine.
Aurora (Ill.) shot 41.8% from the field, including 17.6% (three-of-17) from three-point range. The Spartans shot 67.7% (21-of-31) at the line.
Pilmer led Aurora with 17 points and seven rebounds while Smith finished with 15 points and Hall 14.
UW-L returns to action Saturday, November 22 in the consolation game of the Carthage (Wis.) Classic starting at 4 p.m.
